ADDRESS BY COMMANDER ROBERT E. PEARY
Josef Land, and news from his expe
dition may be received at any time.
Amundsen is in the field laying siege to
the north magnetic Pole.
But there remains still the Pole itself,
and the mystery of that three million
square miles about it, which stand as a
challenge and a reproach to us.
In Asia, "the roof of the world,"
there have been numbers of workers.
The American explorers, Pumpelly
and the Workmans, have done good
work. The latter have attained the
highest altitude yet reached by human
beings, 7,135 meters.
But the magnificent work of Sven
Hedin, the great Swedish traveler, far
surpasses that of all other explorers in
this region. In fact, this explorer un
doubtedly stands foremost in energy and
extent and accuracy of his work among
the active explorers of the day.
Lhassa, "the Forbidden City," the
mystery and secret of central Asia, the
unattained objective of many travelers,
has been reached and reported upon by
several, and today the English military
expedition of Captain Younghusband
occupies the city. The sacred city of
the Llamas is a mystery no longer.
In Africa, once " the Dark Conti
nent," the work of large exploration is
at an end, and has been succeeded by
the work of division and colonization.
No longer the " Dark Continent; " it is
known in its geographical entirety better
perhaps than South America.
The fine French surveys in the central
Soudan, L'Enfant's determination of
actual water communication between
Lake Tchad and the Atlantic, through
the Niger system, and young Grogan's
feat, the longitudinal traverse of the
continent from Cape Town to Cairo, are
worthy of note.
Abyssinia in Africa, like Tibet in Asia,
is being traversed and studied by trav
elers of various nationalities, and Ethi
opia is emerging toward a place among
the nations of the world.
In North America, "the granary of
the world," numbers of explorers have
been busy, more particularly in Alaska
and the northern portion of the conti
nent, but this work will be so well cov
ered by various members during the
meetings of the Congress that I shall not
attempt it here.
A feature perhaps of this region has
been the recent activity of the Canadian
government in exploiting the northern
lands, though more in a political than a
geographical mood.
In South America the main work since
the last Congress has been that of the
government boundary commissions.
In Europe,
" the metropolis of the
world," geographical work is now of ne
cessity a work of detail and rigid scien
tific development.
Of this class of work perhaps no better
example can be given than that inaugu
rated and carried on by Sir John Murray
in the Scottish lakes.
The papers before the Congress cover
this work so well that I need to go no
further.
In the domain of the oceans the mate
rial obtained in connection with the sur
veys for the Pacific cables and the de
velopment of the Pacific " great deeps "
stand prominent.
So much for the work in the field, the
work which by many is regarded as only
the raw material.
As for the advances in the study, the
laboratory, the class-room, the text
book, the list of papers before the Con
gress in the Departments of Meteorol
ogy, Technique, Bio-geography, An
thropo-geography, and Mathematical,
Economic, Historical, and Educational
Geography will attest.
What yet remains to be done? On
this I can touch only in the briefest and
broadest way, and from a personal point
of view. The Congress will determine
this question for itself during its sessions.
The fact of my personal interest in the
polar field does not affect the truth of
389